Five reasons to be excited about God of War: Ragnarök on PS5 next month!

2 years ago by Aaron Potter

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Easily one of the most anticipated first-party titles still to come from PlayStation in 2022, God of War: Ragnarök promises to be a bigger, badder, and more ambitious sequel in almost every way. It’s been three years since we left Kratos and Atreus at the end of 2018’s God of War reboot, and there is much work to be done. Equipped with the mighty Leviathan axe and legendary Chaos Blades, this father-and-son duo must finally learn to work together to prevent the end of days in the Norse realm.

There’s no doubt that God of War: Ragnarök represents a huge step up in scale for the popular series, hence why PlayStation is rolling out the red carpet ahead of the game’s November 9th release on PS4 and PS5. You’ll find the best deals currently available for both platforms in this very article. In the meantime, however, if you’re struggling to embrace the hype, here’s five reasons to be excited about God of War: Ragnarök on PS5 next month.

The first God of War game developed with PS5 in mind

While God of War (2018) was a beautiful game in its own right, there’s an argument to say that the PS4’s technical limitations kept Sony Santa Monica from realising its full potential. Well, we now exist in a world where the much more powerful PlayStation 5 is readily available, meaning we can expect the nine realms Kratos and Atreus will be traversing to look more stunning than ever before. The PS5 version will offer two distinct modes: 4K resolution at a targeted 30 fps, or dynamic resolution upscaled to 4K at a targeted 60fps. Both are sure to look great.

That said, while God of War: Ragnarök on PS5 will be the definitive version from a visual standpoint, players still on PS4 won’t be left by the wayside. 4K visuals may be achievable to those with a PS4 Pro but PlayStation is yet to confirm. Using Horizon: Forbidden West – another PlayStation exclusive released on PS4 and PS5 this year – as a baseline, we expect the base PS4 version of Ragnarök to be capped at 30 fps on all visual modes, playable in either native 1080p or checkerboard 1800p. Needless to say, the sequel will look great on PS4, but particularly better on PlayStation 5. If you're interested in picking up a PS5 for God of War: Ragnarok be sure to check out our best PS5 deals page which highlights all the current stock and best PS5 bundles available.

God of War: Ragnarok Atreus, Brok and Kratos

Epic side missions that rival Kratos and Atreus’ main adventure

This sequel’s much bigger world has given Sony Santa Monica good cause to fill it with a boatload more side missions – to the extent that PlayStation is on record as saying both the main story and side quests will take the average player 20 hours each to complete. This is a substantial change compared to the first God of War, which only really encouraged you to venture off the beaten bath in order to track down collectibles. Ragnarök’s new side missions, by comparison, will come complete with their own specific characters and arcs.

Players who choose to undertake the additional quests in Ragnarök will benefit from a much more highly powered Kratos, making it easy to take down later enemies in the main campaign. However, they’ve been made optional for a reason, and aren’t needed to roll credits. There’s no word yet on whether side missions can be replayed after the story’s completion, but New Game+ mode will almost certainly give players another chance to experience them a second time around.

Kratos and Thor go head-to-head

One of the big teases at the end of the last game (in addition to the arrival of Ragnarök) was the reveal of Thor turning up at Kratos and Atreus’ homestead. As one of Odin’s many sons, Baulder’s death was always going to have massive ramifications in the story, and God of War: Ragnarök is where we’ll see much of this play out. Trailers and marketing materials released thus far show a weighty Thor complete with his hammer Mjolnir in hand. It promises to be the match-up of the century.

It's not just Thor, however, that God of War: Ragnarök will see introduced. There’s a wide array of new characters players can look forward to meeting, too. One of the most notable is the Norse god of war himself, Tyr, who will team up with Kratos as part of the story. Also new is the Dwarf Durlin and young lady Andrboda, both of whom we still know very little. What impact will they have on the attempt to prevent the end of the nine realms? Only the final game will reveal.

God of War: Ragnarok Kratos vs Thor

Slay in style using the God of War: Ragnarok limited edition PS5 controller

Limited-edition PS5 Dualsense controllers are still few and far between in the early days of the PS5’s lifecycle. But God of War: Ragnarök has finally broken the seal with a specific PS5 controller design. Available to pre-order now and released the exact same day as the main game (November 9th), It depicts two howling wolves in the centre, with beautiful blue accenting on the two sides of the grip and around the back.

Those who want to immerse themselves fully now have an effective way to do so with the God of War: Ragnarok limited edition PS5 Dualsense controller. It provides the exact same high-level haptic feedback as the traditional controller, only with this you can look cool doing so. This is more prestigious treatment than, say, Horizon Forbidden West received earlier this year, hopefully being the first of many more special PS5 controllers to be released in the near future. Check out the best deals and availability of the controller below via our comparison.

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The conclusion to Kratos’ journey through the Norse saga

The original God of War trilogy on PS2 and PS3 straddled three main games that saw Kratos fighting his way through the Greek gods. This might led you to believe that this current Norse saga would extend three games too, but Sony Santa Monica has already stated that the story they’re telling is being told as a two-game arc. God of War (2018) was the beginning, and now God of War: Ragnarök marks the end. But considering that the latter is nearly twice the size of the first, you could easily consider it both the second and third acts rolled into one.

Interested in the best God of War: Ragnarök deals for PS5 and PS4? We’ve done the hard work for you and gathered them below. Also don't forget to check out our picks for the best PS5 games if you're looking to get the most out of your console.